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(63.8km) 294km Fredericton to Sackville

The last few days of our Montreal to Sackville journey passed smoothly, although we failed to keep detailed journal entries, possibly because of a couple longer-than-usual days. We left Fredericton late on the morning of the 21st, having slept in after a night with a friend spent staying up late, chatting and playing games. Despite not hitting the road until nearly noon, we made very good time with a tailwind, keeping up speeds of 25-30km/hour for much of the day, especially between Fredericton and Oromocto. By the end of the day, we’d gone 80km to Cambridge Narrows, where we found a field alongside some walking trails, which offered a good wild camping spot for the night.

The next morning was the first day we can truly say we were chilled getting up and out of the tent, and despite cooking our usual hot breakfast of porridge and mocha (a combination of hot chocolate and coffee) we were cold through for a good half hour after we started cycling. The road wasn’t in the best of shape and was reasonably hilly but it was quiet and we followed the 715 all the way to Coles Island. We’d planned to take the old Coles Island cutoff road from that point on, the 112, but with the new highway it was now known to be deserted and so we delayed hitting that part of our route momentarily, heading instead towards the highway in hopes of finding a store to stock up on food.

We did find a store, and a little cafe, so we stopped for a second breakfast, a nice treat which makes up for some of the luxuries you miss when wild camping! Got some snacks – peanuts, apples, baked beans – at the store and then retraced our route, but stopped for advice at the local tourist bureau.

There the man was so impressed with our plans to cycle the world that he called up the New Brunswick CBC radio afternoon show host, who interviewed us for that day’s show!

Our 10 minutes of fame overwith, and on advice from our friendly guide, we changed our plans and opted instead for the slightly more populated number 10 road down to Berwick. We had quite the climb up a mountain but then a good 3km downhill stretch, where we hit a top speed nearing 60km/hour. We’re not sure that’s safe on a bike but it was good fun. Cut through some back roads and ended up on the 890 towards Petitcodiac. We briefly detoured over to one of the side roads to a German restaurant, Gasthof Bavaria which provided another welcome treat. An expensive meal at $55 for the two of us but very good, and we did order the biggest platters they had and then devoured them accordingly!

With 80km on the clock again, we didn’t go far after supper. We wild camped again just a bit down from the German restaurant, in a little stand of trees, and it was here that Friedel really had trouble sleeping. Too wild an imagination, making too much of all the little sounds around. Another chilly morning meant cold fingers starting out on Saturday but after we warmed up the day was fairly uneventful. We reached Riverview around 2pm with nearly 70km done.

The Clements family kindly put us up in their home and fed us a fantastic supper. It was really so nice to have a warm, soft bed after all those nights in the tent and they were very welcoming. The next day we started out early to Sackville and the hills didn’t abate, but we took our time, stopping at Tim Hortons for a coffee and bagel in Dieppe and again further on for an apple.

The winds took their toll around Dorchester, blowing what seemed like a gale across our path and making the going tough at times. We took turns being in front and it really did make a difference, the first time we’d really noticed the effects of drafting. Despite being close to home, we were hungry by lunchtime so stopped at the famous Bell Inn for a soup and sandwich, before carrying on the last few kilometers. Arrived in Westcock about 2:30pm with 63.8km on the clock.

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About Us

We’re Friedel & Andrew: two Canadians who love travelling by bicycle. We’ve travelled through over 30 countries and cycled over 60,000km. Most of that distance was covered on a bike tour around the world from 2006-2009. Read More »

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